In My Absence
by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves
Summary: PART 2: Max abandons Fang, taking their daughter along. With Jewel growing in power, the world simply is not safe for the baby any longer. The responsibility for protecting the world now falls to Fang, but how can he go on without Max and Airy?
1. Chapter 1

**IN MY ABSENCE**

**Sequel to "Max: The ICBG"**

**By Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves**

**Disclaimer:** Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson, who I am not, and yadda, yadda, yadda. On the other hand, there are a BUNCHA characters in here who were born of my own brain. So that's awesome, at least.

**Chapter 1**

"Fang," I said. "Do you see a way that you can finish all of this?"

"I do," he said. Momentarily, he seemed taken aback by his own choice of words—I could guess why. Poor sap had no idea what was coming. "I absolutely do. I know how we can pull through this."

Well, he was a sap, but he was _my_ sap. My intelligent, perceptive, super-gorgeous sap.

"Good," I said. "Give me the baby."

Nervous at my suddenly harsh tone, he passed me our four-day-old daughter, Airy. Her eyes, Fang's eyes, were closed in a deep sleep at the present moment, her black wings with brown speckles hanging limply. I looked at her for a minute—never got tired of her—then looked up at the sky and yelled, "Keegan!"

In a single second, I was facing my allegedly-omnipotent best friend. Keegan's imagination could have been deadly in the wrong hands, but as it turned out it was completely useless. Keegan's powers had no limitations, but the notion that it was "not her place" to interfere in the affairs of the human race kept her from making any major changes in the world… like preventing the broken bodies of Iggy and Nudge from falling miles and miles to the ground.

"Yes?" Keegan said softly.

I took a deep breath. "Keegan, buddy, I'll never forgive you for letting Nudge and Iggy die. But right now I need to put that behind us. Can you make sure… can you use your imagination to make absolutely sure that no one will ever find me or Airy? Would that be within your 'place'?"

My sneer clearly struck home. Keegan winced while she considered my request. She finally brightened. "Yes," she said. "I can do that."

"Good," I said. "Do it." I spread my wings. "You can go now, Keegan."

Keegan vanished.

I held the baby tightly, and turned to Fang, standing some distance away with Angel and Gazzy. "Fang?" I said.

"Yeah?" he replied.

I was almost tempted to just take off right then, but I couldn't let my cowardice prevent him from knowing what was up.

"Good luck, babe," I said. We had adopted that pet name pretty quickly after discussing the notion of sex—which had since then become a daily thing, eventually resulting in my bizarre, two-and-a-half-week-long pregnancy, which in turn had resulted in our tiny but remarkably developed baby. The label of "babe", meanwhile, had stuck—it fit pretty well for a couple of kids who were insanely in love but had been taught to suppress their feelings.

"What with?" Fang asked.

"Taking care of the little kids, and anything else that needs taking care of," I said. Comprehension began to dawn on his face. "The world isn't safe for our baby. I have to protect her."

As I rose into the air, the carnage made my point all the clearer. The Day and Night School was nothing but a smoking crater, filled with hundreds and hundreds of corpses, arranged so that from the air it spelled out a message for me: _GIVE UP, BITCHES! I WILL KILL YOU ALL! KINDEST REGARDS, JEWEL. _It had all been done by Jewel, our latest hyper-intelligent, adorably snide, pure evil, insanely deadly foe. Did I mention that said foe was a machine? Robots taking over the world has become a realistic concern now. Even if it's just one.

Fang looked up at me, almost pleading. Almost. He doesn't plead, God love him. "You can do these things in my absence," I whispered. "I love you so, so much, Fang. Goodbye."

I clutched the baby tightly to my chest and rocketed off, quickly getting into my top-speed, the one that nothing could match, even if I wasn't being shielded by the most powerful being on Earth. I wondered if Keegan's boyfriend, Niles, was among the bodies. Probably not. Even if he had died, Keegan would have resurrected him—when it came to Niles, Keegan's personal code was null and void. She had told him about what kind of creature she was; she had decreed that the two of them would be in love forevermore.

Iggy and Nudge had deserved to be in love forevermore. After a bit of a fiasco in which both have them had fallen into a bit of a slump—she being unable to sort out her feelings for her first boyfriend, he feeling as if he was completely alone—the two of them had fallen deeply in bummed-out love, in a much quicker, easier manner than Fang and I had. For a few weeks, they couldn't keep their hands off one another—then Mr. Chu had had them killed. Their spines and all six of their limbs broken, and dropped from a great height. And Keegan hadn't done anything about it.

I'd avenged them. Mr. Chu was now a hunk of flesh in a pool of blood, but before that he insisted that his death would have no effect on the world's future—that he was only the tip of the spear. But I couldn't help feeling that Keegan, who had been standing right there, could have done more.

I flew off. I won't tell you where I was going, not even if I was going into the sunrise or the sunset or anything in between. This isn't my story anymore. In my absence, the Protector is Fang.

_You are correct in this action, Max,_ the Voice said. _Your daughter is as pivotal as you, and defending her will aid the planet in the long run. No mistakes will arise from this._

Good to know. I didn't bother to answer, though I suppose that since the entity of the Voice was inside my head, me thinking "good to know" was an answer.

Anyway, like I said—this isn't about me. This is about Fang. Fang, unlike me, was _there_ for it. And when I say "it"… I mean _it_.

So, recap: Fang was there for _it_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, thanks for tuning in to Chapter 2. Here are a few things you may need to know. First of all, I'm posting only one chapter every Wednesday, rather than my old standard of a ton all at once. It gives me more time to think stuff over, and hopefully will give my readers more incentive to comment on the subtleties.**

**But wait, there's more. Here are a couple of public respects for the four people who have put "In My Absence" on their Alert list.**

**Sonya Rivers: I appreciate you very much. Thank you for being there and paying attention to what I want from my fans. You're the best. Just don't let anything slip, capisce? I only told you that stuff to make ya quit whinin'. Keep up the reviews, though.**

**Wands 'n' Wings: Your constant presence from the beginning of this story has been very uplifting. I don't know why; maybe only because you were the first reviewer. I tend to get attached to those types. And you do, indeed, put great effort into appreciating the finer aspects of the story. Love ya.**

**Silken-Winged-Angel: I can tell from reading your profile that you're a bona fide, highly intelligent Maximum Ride fan. That review that you posted a while ago was delightfully enthusiastic, and I'd like some more of those! Can you go back to the first part of my series and post a bunch of reviews? Please?**

**MangaFang: If you're gonna put this thing on your Alert list, the least you can do is post reviews, you jackass. No, not really—but you, my friend, are gonna get singled out a lot more often. I'd better see some reviews before something **_**terrible**_** happens.**

**Anyway, on to…**

**Chapter 2**

"What do we do now, Fang?" Angel asked.

I ruffled her hair. "You probably know better than I do," I said. Recently, Angel had gained another powerful ability—it was still undefined and we were testing the limitations, but it was clearly a form of clairvoyance. Or as Max called it, "the ability to foretell shit".

Her attitude and way of speaking wouldn't be the tiniest fraction of the reason I missed her desperately… I could go on forever about why I hadn't wanted her to leave, but I couldn't begrudge her. She did it to protect our baby. She loved our baby… and that was just another of the millions of reasons for my heart to ache as her retreating figure became smaller and smaller…

"I don't know," Angel said. "It's like the planet has no future anymore. There have to be six of us or else nothing works out. The future is all jumbled and distorted when some of us are absent. I'll have to find some way around that eventually, seeing as there will never be six of us again."

"Where did Gazzy go?" I demanded. "Gazzy!"

He was walking away, down the road to what had once been the nearest town to the Day and Night School, but at this point was probably another crackled out shell just like the school itself.

"Hey, dude, where are you going?" I asked, catching up to him.

"Anywhere," he said. "I'm just walking and walking and walking until I can't walk anymore… then I'll collapse and die…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Half of the flock is gone," he said. "I feel like half of the _world_ is gone. Half of my will to live."

"Gazzy, Max isn't gone," I said. "She'll come back."

"And Iggy and Nudge?" Gazzy challenged. "They won't come back."

"No, they won't," I said. "But that means we need you now more than ever! We need every flock member we've got."

He scoffed. "Flock?" he sneered. "There's no _flock_. That's just a dumb thing that you guys came up with. We've got bird DNA, so we're a flock. Genius. There's no flock! We're just a bunch of little kids. Okay? What do you expect an ordinary little kid to do, dealing with deaths and abandonment like that? I can't do it any longer."

I didn't know what to say. So, as is my wont, I said nothing.

"I quit," Gazzy said.

"You quit the flock?" I said.

"I quit _everything_," he said. "The flock. The world. Life. I quit."

He turned and strolled away. I knew I had to follow him, but I didn't know how. How do you deal with a suicidal eight-year-old?

Max would know. Already, it seemed like her leaving was a deadly mistake.

"Do you quit, Angel?" I asked.

"Of course not," she said. "But don't you think you should catch Gazzy?"

"Right," I muttered. I took a flying leap to intercept him. I still didn't know what the hell I was going to say, but I had to say _something_. "Gaz, you can't do this," I said. "It wouldn't be fair to Iggy."

"Iggy's dead," he said.

"Iggy was your best buddy, right?" I pestered him. "He loved you more than anyone else. He was… well, you know, I suppose the 'man of the family' has always been me, but Iggy was your mentor, wasn't he?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "Mentor."

"Iggy taught you everything," I said, feeling like I was on a roll. "Pyrotechnics, cooking, practical jokes. Would he want all of his teachings to just die, all at once? No. He'd want you to surpass him. Go above and beyond him. Right? Don't quit. Let Iggy's legacy go on. Can you do that?"

"Yeah," he said, brightening. "Yeah. Yeah! I can totally do that! Okay. I don't quit."

That's the thing about the flock. We're true warriors. Our instincts always know the perfect way out even if our minds don't. I had navigated my way straight to Gazzy's soul without even knowing that that's what I was looking for.

I turned to Angel, who shot me a thumbs-up. Which, naturally, immediately made me think that I was going the entirely wrong direction.

"Fang, I'm not a complete psychopath," she said. "I do have common sense."

"Right," I said. "Sorry about that. Errant thought, you know."

"It happens," she said, nodding. "So, now there are three of us. What do we do?"

"Jewel," Gazzy said, clearly getting into his scheming mode. "He's a machine. We can hack into him… set up a detonator…"

He immediately stopped talking when a shiny white blade came up behind him and pressed against his throat.

It was Jewel. Human-sized, he was made entirely of red rubies, except for his eyes, which were enormous and expressionless, being nothing but perfectly cut diamonds. A pair of arachnid mandibles sculpted of white marble extended below the eyes. He had two pairs of arms; one, the original set, appeared simply as ruby-studded human arms, but the other pair, a quick modification based on his decision to become spider-like, were multi-jointed and also made of marble, ending with swirling, deadly blades.

"What was that about a detonator?" Jewel said, his mandibles clicking together with every word. His voice was plainly male, but singsong, and his mannerisms were effeminate. He was far from funny, though. All you had to do was consider anything he had done or threatened to do, and immediately he was the most horrifying, evil thing in the history of ever.

"Jewel," a shaky voice said. It was Brigid. "Master Jewel, you promised…"

"Yes, I did," Jewel said. "I won't kill them… unless they move." The blade gently grazed Gazzy's throat, making his point pretty clear. Jewel weaved between us slowly, but we knew that those blades could start chopping at any second.

Jewel bent down to get a good look at Angel. She was making the face she did when intently listening to thoughts… could she read Jewel's thoughts? We knew that his computer could rival most human brains, that he had opinions and personality all his own, but did that really mean that his functions could pass for an actual mind?

When Jewel turned around, Angel gave me a tiny nod, confirming. Well, that would come in handy. I'd always known—weakness. Everything has it.

"Where's Max?" Jewel asked me.

"She didn't tell me," I said. "She didn't tell anybody."

"Fang, tell him the truth," Brigid said. She was begging me.

"No, that was the truth," Jewel said thoughtfully. "Interesting."

My eyes scanned the people surrounding Jewel. Brigid was there, as was Keegan. Everyone else there was dressed in armor that masked their entire bodies, apart from their eyes. Every one of them were looking back and forth carefully.

"Transparent goggles," Jewel explained, noticing my appraisal. "To grant them full visibility. I don't like dramatics, see. Faceless, anonymous henchmen are quite classy, but being classy doesn't mean much if you can pick them off like flies. I think a plan is only as good as its result. I don't particularly worry about scariness. For example, each and every one of these folks is an excellent marksman. They weren't when I first hired them, but they are now—I used encoded imagery to give them all the skills they need to overpower… oh, I don't know, YOU. You find yourself flying away, you will get hit by many, many bullets. In hand-to-hand combat, you will be defeated by their sheer numbers. If somehow you get by them, you'll have to go through _me_, and obviously you won't survive that. Shall I continue?"

"That's okay," I said.

"Is that a surrender?" Jewel taunted.

"I prefer to think of it as strategic self-preservation," I said.

**Chapter 3 will come next week… or will it? It depends on the reviewers.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I'm weak. I can't stand to update only once a week. I need to get my story out there. I think that once a chapter gets a satisfactory amount of reviews, I will then update the next morning. I think that's a nice middle ground between once a week and nine times a day, wouldn't you say?**

**Chapter 3**

Jewel had us sedated. I felt the sensation of being on a tiny, rocking rowboat, but it may have been that I was just seriously stoned. When I awoke, Gazzy, Angel and I were in a cell made entirely out of stone. There were no shackles, and the bars were thin and easy to slip through.

I never felt a moment of optimism. If Jewel thought this was a good place to imprison us, then that's precisely what it was. I inspected the place.

The stone walls were… breathing.

"Well, that's the freakiest thing ever," I commented aloud.

"Hey, kids," said a small voice from outside the bars.

"Hello, Brigid," I said in my coldest voice. And that's pretty damn cold. I probably could have out-snarled Max if I had ever tried.

"Fang, I'm sorry," she said. "I felt you deserve an explanation."

"Uh-huh. Go ahead."

"This cell you're in is made of genetically-engineered stone."

"Genetically-engineered stone?" I repeated. "Stone doesn't have genetics."

"This one does," she says. "It's a hybrid of certain living things and certain kinds of rock. If you escape, it will swallow you and return you to the cell. The urns in the corner of the cell contain a specially-designed acid that only attacks genetic material. So you can pour it on the walls of the cell, that'll dissolve them efficiently enough, but after you do that the acid is guaranteed to harm _you_ as well." She smiled weakly. "Contrary to his claims, Jewel _is_ into theatrics, or else he wouldn't have put the substance there."

I considered that. "That wasn't the explanation I was looking for," I said.

She looked confused.

"You're really not comprehending what I want to know?" I snarled at her. "What kind of genius are you? I want an explanation about YOU. I thought you were one of the good guys."

"I am, Fang," she said. "I've always thought you and the flock were all incredible people, and… well, especially you, Fang. This may sound sick, but I kind of… fell in love with you, a little bit."

I grimaced. "You WHAT?! Yeah, you better believe that sounds sick. What the hell?"

"You didn't know?" Brigid said.

"No, I didn't know," I snapped. "Blecch! Now I understand why Max didn't like you. That's… that's awful."

"Anyway," Brigid said uneasily, "I do care very much… for the planet, for you kids."

"You didn't seem like you cared that much when Iggy and Nudge were getting chopped up into little pieces and thrown overboard."

"They were never chopped up into little pieces," Brigid protested. "They were just… snapped into _several_ pieces."

The living stone surrounding me made a loud puffing noise, filling the room with warm air, and I aged about thirty years. Damn freaky thing.

"Marvelous," I said furiously. "What's your motivation, Brigid? What the hell are you up to?"

"My motivation?" Brigid said, fuming suddenly. "Blowin' in the wind, that's my motivation! Some truly awful shit is happening to the world, and I would like to live through that, thank you very much! Mr. Chu gave me a good chance of surviving, then Jewel gave me a better one. Mr. Chu's dead now anyway, so Jewel it is. If you can give me a better deal than Jewel—a better guarantee that I'll survive the end of the world—I'll side with you. Okay? I'm looking out for _me_. Is that so wrong?"

I nodded. "I suppose not. It doesn't say much about your strength of character, though, Brigid."

She shrugged. "Whatever. If you need somebody to talk to, I'm here. You know, it's because of me that you're alive."

"I know," I said. "You asked Jewel not to kill us. Nice favor."

"I do like you guys," she said. "I really do."

I gritted my teeth. "Fuck you, Dwyer," I said, turning away from her. My sharp senses told me that she didn't move at all.

I touched the wall of the cell. It was hard as stone, but I could feel it expanding and contracting like a lung.

I remembered the puffing sound the cell had made. I tried to remember the context of that moment… there must have been some kind of trigger. The cell was alive, but was it _aware_? Even intelligent, perhaps? It could swallow its escaped prisoners, but then why wasn't it swallowing Brigid, her hands plainly touching the exit? I'd have to figure this out.

"Brigid?" I said.

"Yes?"

"How much of a 'living thing' is this cell?" I wondered.

"Living enough," she said grimly. "Enough that everyone that's ever come near it is terrified of it."

The cell inhaled slowly, its walls thickening. It reminded me of someone puffing out their chest in pride. Could that be exactly what it was doing?

"Yeah, but can it hear me and understand me?" I asked.

Brigid frowned. "I don't think so."

"No?" I said. "What if I said that a living cell was the dumbest idea I've ever heard of?"

The rhythmic breathing stopped suddenly. The walls contracted slightly.

"Interesting," I said quietly. Aloud, I said, "Probably just the remnants of some trash that the bad guys didn't know what else to do with."

The cell huffed.

"I think it knows what you're saying, Fang," Gazzy said nervously. "Can you stop trash-talking it? Every time it takes a breath I start wishing for my expiration date to pop up."

"Sorry, Gazzy. That was just a test. Actually, I do think that this thing is, in fact, the pinnacle of artificial life-forms. Quite pleasing on the eyes, well-adapted to its function."

The cell relaxed, continuing to breathe as normal.

"You like your job, don't you?" I said to it. "Well, I guess we're doomed then."

Time for a convoluted scheme. "You know something, Brigid?" I said. "I… I think I've ended up in a good place."

She frowned. "What does that mean?"

I came close to her, sticking my arm through the gap in the bars. "Now that I think about it, I do sort of love you," I said. "Max… I mean, she was really controlling. It was like I never had a chance to be myself—I could only be what she wanted. I didn't like it. Didn't like it at all. And now she's flown off to locales unknown and you and I… are right here. Together."

I interlaced my fingers with hers. It was sickening, but I could tough my way through it if it meant we were gettin' outta here.

"Really?" she said.

"Yeah," I said. "I mean, ever since the day we met, everything I've done, I've done to get closer to you. Because you… are the most beautiful, amazing thing I have seen in my entire life."

"Really?" Brigid breathed. "Wow, you're… are you trying to sucker me into freeing you?"

That had never been my intention, but I milked that assumption. "Is it working?" I said innocently, giving her my best steamy eyes.

"Well, I mean, I do… I do… well, I've always thought you were special and wonderful… and holy crap, you're so handsome. All the fan-mail you get every day could never compare to what _I_ think of you. But I can't let you escape, Fang, you have to understand. No one else is guarding you. If you get away, Jewel will know it was me. And even if you manage to defeat him and his guards… I couldn't possibly. Jewel will kill me, and frankly I'd rather live."

"I understand," I said. "I don't need to be free to be with you. I'm content now to just reach through the bars, and touch you, and kiss you…" I moved my mouth toward the gap, and she hesitantly kissed me. I wasn't sure if that bit was necessary, but a bit of extra padding couldn't hurt the ploy.

I retreated toward the cotton bed in the back of the cell, the very image of abject misery. Glancing at the two little kids, I saw Gazzy staring at me, apparently starting to think that I meant it. Angel, obviously, knew what I was up to, and Gazzy nodded as she telepathically explained it to him.

I could see in their eyes that neither of them thought it would work.

Time to play my last card. I might have been completely wrong—this would determine everything, the fate of the world itself. "Can you tell me a story, Brigid?" I asked pitifully.

"A story?"

"A story about you," I said. "Your life, your journeys. There's no better story to tell."

Brigid blushed. "What… what do you want me to talk about?"

"Tell me about when you decided you wanted to be a scientist," I said.

"Well… that would be the day that I discovered that I was a genius. Funny, huh? It was the first grade… I could figure things out. I corrected all of my teachers' spelling errors, their scientific mistakes. It felt like I knew _everything_. That might sound immodest, but that's what it felt like."

I eyed Angel and shot her a clear mental message: _This is gonna work. Get ready to run. We just need to keep her talking._

"I knew it was a gift," Brigid continued. "And I knew, then, that I should use it to do good things in the world. And I thought, well, what's wrong with the world that I could change? Overall, the world is a good place to live, but I never stopped thinking about how I—me, Brigid Dwyer—could make it better. It is, after all, the only planet we've got. Until there's a reasonable alternative, we need to take care of Earth. And I could make a difference in that area, I always knew I would. So, once I was finished with high school, I started…"

Suddenly, the bars of the living cell broke apart in a gaping yawn. "Go, go, go!" I yelled.

Angel and Gazzy bolted out, barreling past the stunned Brigid. I came out after them, knocking Brigid on her butt.

"Fang?" she said, awed. "How… how did you know the cell would yawn?"

"Because," I said. "That's the reaction any coherent creature would have to one of your stories, Brigid. You're the boringest bitch I ever met."

I ran after Gazzy and Angel.

"Awesome, dude," Gazzy said. We pounded our fists together.

I looked over my shoulder at Brigid. She kicked the cell. "Stupid, incompetent ROCK!" she screeched.

In response, the cell swallowed her. Well, hopefully, that would make Jewel realize that it wasn't Brigid's fault and he wouldn't kill her. Hopefully. If it didn't turn out that way… well, what are you gonna do? Either way, I would never shed a tear over Brigid again.

As I ran, I laughed uproariously. The little kids laughed along with me. And laughing felt pretty darn good.


	4. Chapter 4

**Nothing is ever as easy as one might hope. Just so you know, this chapter ends with a cliffhanger—the good kind. I was planning this cliffhanger from the very beginning of this story. I'm telling you this partly so you know that I got the idea all on my own with no influence from any of you, and partly to torture you as you read from the beginning of the chapter. Please do that, by the way. For your sake. Skipping ahead to the end kills the experience.**

**Chapter 4**

Angel, Gazzy and I jacked a couple of uniforms from one of the closets in Jewel's base. Highly clichéd maneuver, I know, but it worked. We knew it wouldn't last the entire way, but the more of Jewel's soldiers we slipped by, the fewer we'd have to fight once our cover was blown.

The place was populated with more of the drones that Jewel had kidnapped us with. There were so many of them! Considering Jewel had only been an independent organization for a couple of days, the amount of help he had was horrifying. Looking out windows, there must have been ten thousand guys out on the lawn alone. All of them were decked out in armor—black and white, covering nearly the entire body, but with enough transparent armor around the eyes to give good visibility.

I hadn't seen any of them in action, but I took Jewel's word for it that they were perfectly capable of defeating us. Every last one of them having taken intense fighting, shooting, and defense training in seconds via encoded imagery.

Jewel's base resembled a research facility, or perhaps a hospital. Everything clean and shiny—which, of course, made us edgy. Childhood trauma. No matter how much freedom and triumph we experienced, memories of the School would never fade. At least no one had ever raped any of us. I call that an act of God—somebody somewhere wanted us to be spared at least one kind of evil.

Anyway, back to the present—the good news was, there were definitely too many of them going about too many tasks for us to stand out from the crowd. There was no way for all of them to know each other by sight.

But still… as we got progressively closer to the exit, it was pretty clear that somehow we'd get called out. There was no clear-cut path out; we had to go up and down to every floor of the building several times. At some point, two other guards blocked our paths, one man and one woman.

"Hey, brother," the man said. "I noticed you… didn't exactly know your way around the place." He eyed Gazzy and Angel. "Aren't the two of you a bit short to be Stormtroopers?"

I chuckled. "Cute. No, not to worry. We know what we're up to."

"And we may be small, but we're also quick," Gazzy added. Needless to say, he disguised his voice when saying that. He'd used a different voice every time we had to encounter more guards. At the moment, he sounded like a deep-fried down-home country politician. I made a mental note to tell him to tone it down before the next encounter.

"I see," the man said. "Okay, we're going to have to take you aside for a moment. Do you mind?"

"Yeah, actually," I said. "We've got things to do."

"You've got _what_ to do?" the guy challenged.

"Mind your own business," I said. I am probably the best bluffer in the world, but the fact that I knew nothing about the inner workings of Jewel's organization would probably get this conversation derailed sooner or later.

"We're lieutenants," he said. "You guys, in the meantime, are whips. That means we outrank you. Your business _is_ our business, and the fact that I have to tell you this only adds to my suspicion that you don't really know what you're doing. Come with us, all three of you."

He guided us to a small room. The two of them had us stand against the wall, and they stared at us through their transparent visors. The man had tan skin and brown eyes, and the woman was very pale, her eyes vividly green.

"I take it the three of you took the Instant Combat Training?" the guy finally asked.

"Yes," I said. "Hasn't everyone?"

"Yes, everyone has," the man said. "Good bluff, but isn't it pretty obvious that I'll have to make you _prove_ that you can perform the combat?"

He held out five darts. "See these?" he said. "Five darts. Fly, cockroach, earwig, spider, mosquito." With each of those five names, he tossed one of the darts in a different direction. I looked around inconspicuously. Each of the five darts was embedded into a wall, impaled straight through the center of the bug that had been named with the throw.

"Every one of Jewel's soldiers can aim like that," he continued. "Can _you_?" He passed me a few darts. "You see the pencil laying across the desk?" he said. "Knock it off of the desk using the tip of a dart. Just so I know you're not an impostor, okay, brother?"

I saw the pencil. My instincts told me how to throw the dart. But there was no possible way that I could throw a dart and hit the pencil in one try—and if I failed on my first try, I'd be exposed. So, I hefted a dart in each hand and shot them into the two lieutenants' faces.

The male lieutenant caught the darts before they made contact. "Oh, thought you could hit me and take off?" he said. "Well, clearly you have no clue at all what kind of power Jewel's soldiers wield, do you? More proof that you're a traitor."

Angel giggled suddenly. She knew something I didn't. Something was up—and I thought that perhaps I knew what it was.

"Wait a second," I said. "Why hasn't _she_ said or done anything?" I eyed the woman. "You're the only one who's been doing all those tricks with the darts. You know what I think? I think you're exaggerating the powers of Jewel's soldiers to try to get me to break down. You're no ordinary drone."

The man's eyes sparkled as he smiled. "Oh, you're pretty clever, brother."

"I'm not your brother," I said. "Quit calling me that, man."

"Really?" he said. "I can't call you 'brother'? I'm hurt, _Fang_. Fang, Maximum Ride's second-in-command, her boyfriend, and most recently her baby-daddy."

"What?!" I demanded. I stared into his eyes. An unattractive muddy brown, exotically shaped. There was nothing familiar about them at all. Of course, my eyes were familiar to most people across the world now, so it was perfectly reasonable to guess that we had never met. Then again, the guy's refusal to make eye contact with me stirred some part of me or another…

"You were exactly right, Fang," he said. "Jewel's soldiers can't do this, just me, baby, me. I wondered when you would figure it out! I knew it was you the instant I heard your footsteps, but hey, you were never the observant one. You were the brooding, quiet one. The sexy, sensitive one. The one who stayed under the water a bit too long at the age of ten."

"Who are you?" I snapped.

"Guess," he said.

"I… I couldn't possibly."

"Ah, sure you could. Come on, guess."

I grabbed him by the throat—I found that in sheer frustration, my strength actually cracked the armor on his neck, the shards digging into him.

"Tell me who you are or I'll kill you," I said in a grating whisper.

"All right, all right. Jeez. Calm down. Just let go of my throat, okay?"

I released him, holding him tightly under my glare. He pressed a button on the side of his helmet. His coloration changed dramatically—his eyes were now light blue, his skin extremely pale.

"I thought you could guess," he said apologetically. "I should have realized, though—nobody knows me as well as I know them."

He removed his helmet and shook out his spiky blonde hair. I gaped, staring in disbelief for a few moments. Hearing me stammer, he smirked, apparently pleased at finally being recognized. And with his disguise removed, of course I recognized him.

"Iggy?" I breathed.

"Sup?" he said smugly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

There was Iggy, standing in front of me in all his glory.

The woman removed her helmet as well—the pale, green-eyed woman was as much of a disguise as the one Iggy had been wearing. It was Nudge.

"Oh my God…" I muttered. "Iggy and Nudge… it's not possible. It can't be Iggy and Nudge."

"Oh, it can be, and it is, Iggy and Nudge," Iggy countered.

"Or as the tabloids call us, 'Niggy'," Nudge said cheerfully.

I felt a couple of muscles in my face twitch insanely. "You guys!" I sobbed, pulling them both into a hug. "I don't believe this," I whimpered. "You're alive… you're okay… it's unbelievable… oh, you guys have no way of knowing how thrilled I am right now. It's incredible…"

"And there it is," Iggy said. He slapped Nudge a high-five. "We have done it."

"Done what?" I asked.

"You cried," Nudge said. "And we're witnesses!"

The two of them pranced around in a circle, chanting "We got Fang to cry-y, we got Fang to cry-y…"

I slammed their skulls together, then pulled them into another loving embrace. "How?" I asked. "I saw you guys. Every bone in your bodies were broken… and that was _before_ you were dropped. There's no way you could have survived a fall like that, in the state you were in."

"We never hit the ground," Iggy said. "The ICBG saved us… you know, what's left of the ICBG. Danny and Ray and Ram took good care of us. They speed-healed our broken bones and gave us these disguises. Come on, let's get our helmets back on. We can sneak you guys out of here. Is Max in the compound, too?"

"No," I said. "Just me and the little kids. Let's go."

"Oh, my goodness," Angel said. "I can see so much more clearly now that five of us are together… I won't see with perfect clarity until Max comes back. But things are… better. Not perfect, but better."

"Lead us out, Iggy," I said.

"Fang, where's Max?" Nudge demanded.

"Shush," Iggy said quickly. "We're clearing out. No more talking until we reach the exit."

"Gotcha," I said.

The five of us marched off, navigating through the halls, looking much less conspicuous in a larger number.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

After we left Jewel's compound, we all whipped out our wings. Iggy and Nudge led us north.

"This is killing me, you guys," Nudge said. "What happened to Max?"

"She left," I said. "She asked Keegan to keep her and the baby hidden until there's no more risk."

"She abandoned you?" Iggy said quietly. "Really? No! That can't be. You're… you're wrong. Max doesn't abandon people! You're wrong!"

Nudge quickly held Iggy's hand. "Hey, calm down, beautiful. Max does everything for a reason."

"She didn't abandon anybody," I said hurriedly. "She… she trusts me, you know. She knew I could take care of things. She just didn't want Jewel to get the baby."

Iggy considered that. "That's an awful thing for her to do."

"Hey, if the baby is safe, I'm all for this plan, okay?" I said. I paused. "Did Nudge just call you 'beautiful'?"

"Shut up. I happen to know I _am_ beautiful."

"So, where are we, and where are we going?" I asked, starting to smile.

"We're in Libya," Iggy said. "And we're going to Italy, where the ICBG have set up a new secret base."

"There's just the three of them," Nudge said. "Just Danny and the twins. They're a lot of fun! And you gotta see the things they can whip up. They're truly geniuses, like nobody else in the world. And they're really not evil at all! They could really do some terrific stuff in the world if only someone would let them!"

"Really?" I said.

"We should have supported them from the very beginning," Nudge said.

"Yeah," Iggy said. "These disguises they gave us? Holographic. It wraps perfectly around our faces; we can change our facial features and coloration to look like anything we want, then go back to normal at the touch of a button. You're gonna have a ball with this, Fang."

"Sounds like it," I agreed.

"They even told me that they could fix my eyes," he said. "I told them that was a really nice opportunity, and I thanked them, but I decided not to have it done."

"Really? But I thought you always wanted to get your sight back."

"Yeah, but I figured, you know, when has it ever really been a problem?" he said cheerfully. "I mean, I've never felt helpless, and things are really just more _exciting_ without sight. Fighting, flying, sex. Everything, really…"

"Sex?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, did we not mention that?" Iggy said.

"I feel like we must have," Nudge said with mock-thoughtfulness.

"Well, just in case, let's mention it again."

"Let's."

"Right," Iggy said. "Yeah, me and Nudge? We've had sex. What do you think of that?"

"I think she's eleven and that's slightly repulsive, Iggy, that's what I think of that."

"We don't know that I'm eleven," Nudge countered, "and when you're in love and you're in a cage and you think the thirty-minute timer on the wall signifies your own death, there are things you want to get done. It's like that episode of _House_, when the little girl with cancer wants Chase to kiss her, and he feels sorry for her so he does it, and then…"

"Say what?" I demanded.

"You remember that episode? She didn't want to die without ever having—"

"No, I mean… what was that about a cage and a timer?" I clarified.

"Yeah, while the ICBG was giving us the treatment, we had no way of knowing what they were doing to us. We thought they were getting ready to execute us," Iggy said. "We thought we'd never get a chance to do it again, you know? Then after it turned out that they had the same anti-Jewel agenda as us… well, then, even though we knew that we would live… we _wanted_ to have sex again."

The two of them laughed, nearly hampering their flight. I had always thought that them being together was bizarre, but now, hearing them laughing in perfect harmony, I realized that both of them had found the end of their road, in a good place.

"So, you know, it's been a big week," Nudge said. "Lots of preparations to be made… of course, with the Big Guy off doing his own thing, it'll be pretty hard to figure out how to defeat Jewel. No one's seen the Big Guy for a while."

"A big _week_?" I said. "We were sedated that long?"

"Don't know," Iggy said. "I just know it's been eight days since we were tossed overboard."

"That was the same day that Jewel captured us," Gazzy said. "So we _were_ sedated for a week."

"Yeah, guess so," Iggy said. "Heard that Max killed Mr. Chu with punch-daggers! That's pretty intense. Doesn't sound like her… but, hey, she thought she was avenging us. That was nice of her, at least."

"Eight days," I muttered. "I bet Airy looks completely different by now…"

Iggy came up above me and patted my shoulder. "Hey, man, we all know Max," he said. "She can't keep it up for long. Even if things aren't safe, she'll come back with the baby soon enough. So, what's Max's big plan, anyway?"

"I don't think she really has a plan," I said. "I think all that she had figured was that she needed to hide."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Iggy entered the pass code to the base in a secluded part of Italy.

"Anybody home?" he called. There was no answer.

"Well, we can make ourselves at home," Nudge said. "Angel, they've got a great wardrobe. It's, like, a mile square! They have EVERYTHING. They're for disguise purposes, but, man, some of the outfits are hot!"

"This I gotta see," Angel said.

"Yep," Iggy said. "And Gazzy, they have a lot of stuff here for us to build and blow up and build again… and there's a big gym, with lots of weapons and an arena and stuff to provide lots of martial arts training for Fang and…" He paused before gesturing to me. "Just Fang," he muttered awkwardly. "Sorry, dude."

"No worries," I said. "I'll just… familiarize myself with the layout. You guys go play."

Angel and Nudge skipped down one hallway, and Iggy and Gazzy ran down another. I strolled around the entry room, looking around casually. The front room appeared to be the conference room. It was nicely furnished, with a large conference table and chairs, as well as hanging plants all over. I liked it a lot.

Down on one of the walls was a large photograph of seven people, standing all together looking miserable. It took up the entire wall—it was life-sized. I walked over to it and examined the people.

"I'm the blond," said a voice behind me.

I turned. It was Danny Brooks, the octopus-man. He had bright red skin, and like all of the mutants of the ICBG he had strikingly human eyes. He slithered forward on his octopus tentacles, dressed in a four-sleeved polo shirt and looking very much like… well, like a vaguely humanoid octopus. Nothing else to compare him to, really.

"Third from the end," he said in his whiny voice. "That's me. This was taken in 2001."

I looked at the photo again. He was short and slender, and appeared to be highly frail.

"Right," I said. "And I know this one is the Big Guy." I pointed to the elderly Hispanic man on the rightmost edge of the photo. "And over here are Felicia and Albert." Albert looked to be about six-four in height, and was pale with long black hair. Felicia was Asian with very soft features and short, cropped hair. The two of them were on the left side of the photo.

"Look how in love they were," Danny said wistfully. "We were never allowed to make physical contact with our fellow prisoners. That was never really a problem for anyone but the two of them. Look at them, even without making physical contact they're gravitating so strongly toward each other. And there's the twins, obviously."

The twins were dark-skinned, and completely identical, down to their outfits and haircuts. "They're really little!" I said.

"Yeah," Danny said. "Lethally intelligent, the both of them. They could do long division in their heads by the age of four. This was taken just a few months before the Big Guy's experiment and breakout. We've been on the run for eight years."

"Wow," I said. "But the Big Guy said you got the name 'International Conglomerate of Bad Guys' from an episode of _Chuck_. _Chuck_ only started airing last year."

"We only started having a name last year," Danny said. "After so many years, we decided that we had to find acceptance somehow—for the sake of our sanity. Think about it. You could handle yourself for a year or two, living off the land, living in secret, but could you stand _eight_ years of that?"

"Well, we never really got the opportunity to run for eight years," I admitted. "People found us, caught up to us. Acceptance came pretty quick after that."

"Yes," Danny said. "You see why we've been so _jealous_ of you? We have none of the benefits you have. We were imprisoned already, even before we became mutants—they called us mad scientists, evil geniuses, all those labels. And as mutants go, we're not nearly as cute as you kids."

"Yeah," I said. "I remember, Laura said that. That you've all been working so hard for the betterment of the world, and then _we_ got accepted out of nowhere."

"That's right," Danny agreed. "Laura." He pointed to the only person in the photo who hadn't been identified, a beefy red-headed woman standing between himself and the Big Guy. "Killed by your Max. She was my best friend… before."

"Before she was killed?" I said. "I'm really sorry about that."

"Before she lost her mind and her soul," Danny corrected. "No need to be sorry. The Laura that Max killed was not the Laura I knew. By that time, she was… evil."

"I noticed," I said.

"Not as evil as Jewel, though," Danny said. "Compared to Jewel, Laura had a heart of gold and a soul made of rainbows and moonbeams. Nothing's as evil as Jewel."

"I don't know if that's completely accurate," I said. "Ever hear of Itex? The By-Half Plan?"

"Uh-huh," Danny said. "Pretty nasty. But Jewel's plan makes the By-Half plan look like dandruff."

"Dandruff?" I repeated.

"I don't know. Dandruff. It was the first harmless thing that came to mind." He shrugged. "So… where is your Max?"

"Max?" I said. "Nobody knows where she is. No one will ever find her. Max will stay hidden until Keegan says otherwise. Keegan has all the powers in the universe, you know."

"Keegan?" Danny said. "Are you sure? Keegan, the little girl with the thick glasses?"

"You know any other Keegan with that kind of power?"

"Keegan is a powerful cosmic force… and she belongs to Jewel. How could you get that kind of assurance from her?"

"She's more than a powerful… thing," I said. "She's Max's best friend. She's a double agent. She gives us all the help she can, within her principles."

"Good to know," Danny said. "We were afraid that we were all doomed. Keegan has principles, then?"

"She absolutely does," I said. "How did you know that Keegan has powers?"

"Ray and Ram discovered it," Danny said. "They told the Big Guy, and Jewel's betrayal came pretty quick after that."

"Keegan was with Jewel already at that point," I said thoughtfully. "So he must not know."

Ray and Ram came out of the hallway. They were no longer identical—far from it. Ray was a spotted stingray 23 feet across, who moved by undulating across the floor, and Ram was a six-foot-tall bipedal mountain goat. Despite their ferocious appearance, it was pretty easy to tell that, truthfully, they were a couple of innocent 12-year-old boys.

"Good to have you onboard, Fang," Ray said. "You ready to take Jewel down?"

"How do we do that?" I asked.

"We can only hope that the Big Guy will figure something out," Danny said. "Jewel has a plan, you know. When he's through, there will be only a handful of humans in the world, every one of them with no purpose but to serve, and die, at Jewel's hand."

"Well, that ain't no good," I said.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Jewel looked over the computer display. "Take a look at this, Dr. Dwyer," he said.

Brigid shuffled forward. He hadn't killed her, but he had delivered one of his trademark "punishments"—suffocation and endless pain until the person felt certain that they had to be dead.

"We've got so many tasty options," Jewel said. "What do you think?"

The display was a maneuverable image of the planet.

"Options for what, Master Jewel?" Brigid said nervously.

"Our first target," Jewel said. "We're gonna outline the borders of an entire country in flames, then disintegrate everything within. Show the world we mean business. What do you think we should go for first? France? Egypt? China?"

"You can blow up _China_?" Brigid said uneasily.

"Yes," he said. "You like that? That'd make an impression."

"I don't know that I'm comfortable with killing that many people, Jewel," Brigid said.

"Well, then, why don't you quit this job?" Jewel asked. The blade that Brigid immediately felt on her throat made it perfectly clear what quitting entailed.

"I'm just saying…" Brigid said bravely. "You want people to like you. Wouldn't you prefer that? It's not too much of a stretch to be feared _and_ liked."

Jewel withdrew the blade. "You've offended me, Brigid," he said. "I might… you know, spin around and kill some random underling." He laughed. "Totally kidding. Don't worry. I appreciate your advice, but it's not needed. I'll be liked just fine." He turned back to the computer display.

"Jewel?" Brigid asked.

"Yeah, pudding?"

"What… what is it you really want out of this whole thing?" Brigid said. "I don't really see much… _fulfillment_ out of this."

"There's conflict," Jewel said. "All the national borders and ethnic divisions… I'm going to end that. People won't care about that anymore. Am I right or am I right? It's a silly thing. There's only one Earth. There's only one kind of human."

"I see," Brigid said. "Well, I guess that's good…"

"And of course," Jewel said. "There will be only one thing superior to Earth and the human race: me. Just me." He tapped a few commands on the computer display.

"Tell me again why blowing up whole countries is part of the plan," Brigid said.

"Well, I can't rule the entire human race all by myself," he said. "There's too many of them. It's a burden. Gotta thin it out a bit. To, let's say, one hundred."

"One hundred?" Brigid whispered. "You mean… one hundred people in your immediate court?"

"One hundred people existing in the entire world. Much more manageable."

Brigid's eyes widened. "You're… you're wiping out the _entire_ human race except for a hundred people?"

"It's easier than keeping track of them all. I'm holding auditions, seeing who will be able to raise the most fanatical kids. That's why I don't need the flock or my old ICBG cohorts—not enough human blood in them. It'll dilute the puppy mill. Don't worry, Dwyer, you don't need to audition. I know how much you value your own ass. You pass by default."

"Thanks," Brigid said. "I mean that in all sincerity, thanks. That's all I ever wanted."


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, I'm-a gonna post all of the chapters I have tonight. Everyone I care about already reviews every chapter meticulously. :)**

**Chapter 8**

Hey. Iggy here. You think just because Max is gone, all the narrative duties go to Fang? No.

Fang hadn't slept for the six days that all five of us had been staying at the ICBG base. He hadn't been complaining, and didn't even move during the night, but I could tell from the sound of his breathing that sleep wasn't happening. On the sixth night, I figured I ought to talk to him.

I kissed Nudge gently on the lips. "I'm gonna go talk to Fang, prettiness. Okay?"

"Okay," she said. "Tell him we all love him."

"Absolutely, sweetheart," I said.

I rolled out of our shared bed and found my way to Fang's room. I knocked.

"Come in," he said glumly.

I walked in and sat at the foot of his bed. "How's it going, dude?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Why?"

"You haven't slept since you got here," I said. "I know you're not made of stone, dude. Max is your true love, and you miss her. You'd have to be an idiot to think it's anything else. If you want to talk to anybody about that, I'm here for you."

"Well, that's the problem," he said. "The only person I ever _could_ talk to was Max."

"Baloney," I said. "There are four kids here who know you every bit as well as Max does. We know the real you. And, I'm quoting Nudge here, we all love you."

"Yeah?" Fang said. "Well, thanks, Ig. I… I appreciate it, but I don't think I need to talk about anything."

"Come on, Fang, if you can't sleep let's go to the practice arena," I said. "You know, spar and talk, like you did with Max."

"No, Iggy, you need your sleep."

"Nah, I've slept every night this week. Don't need to do it again."

He chuckled at my bravado. "Fine. I don't know if that'll work, though. When I sparred with Max, we were… talking about really deep stuff, you know? The future, sex, problems among the flock. We were equals, you know? In the fighting and the talking. You know, it was during one of those talks that I first guessed that maybe you were in love with Nudge."

"And that was a great day for everybody," I said, fondly remembering the moments. When she had asked my advice in her relationship with Aaron, and I had gladly given it. Then, when I had defended her when Aaron wouldn't, and she had thanked me with a prolonged, tender kiss. And when, looking over the ultrasound photographs of baby Airy, she had told me how much she loved me, and asked me if she could be my girlfriend.

I also felt her up that day, but that doesn't make for a very romantic story. I try to keep my priorities straight.

"Anyway…" I said, trying to get back into the moment. "Come on, Fang, let's go fight."

"Ah, no thanks," he said. "I think I can sleep now. I guess all I needed was a bit of comfort. Thank you, Iggy. I mean that."

"No prob," I said. "You ever need to sort some stuff out, I'm here for you. I'm your brother."

"You're absolutely my brother," he agreed. "Goodnight, Ig. I… I sure do love you a lot. Go back to Nudge." In seconds, his breathing was heavy and regular. He was sleeping.

I went back to the room that I had been sharing with Nudge. "That was amazing," she said. "I heard through the wall. Cheering him up like that? That was beautiful. You can do anything, Iggy. You know that?"

"Oh, I don't know about that," I said. "Not _anything_. I'm not Keegan. I just… I just know how to… how to make everybody feel better."

She hugged me tightly. "I lovey-lovey-love you, Iggy. You make me feel better every day."

"Wouldn't be nothin' without you, cocoa puff," I said.

"Sure you would," she said. "You saved the day all the time before you were ever even willing to talk to me. And remember when Max's sister was hitting on you?"

"When did that happen?"

"Oh, you remember. Dinner, after the big… you know. When we first met them."

"Hmm. Ella, huh? I always figured I was just a neat little spectacle."

"Come on, Iggy. Everybody loves you."

"I don't care about everybody loving me," I said. "Just you is fine."

She kissed me from chin to hairline. "Can you imagine our babies, Iggy?"

"Kind of."

"Yeah. They'll probably be really beautiful. You know? 'Cause I'm black, and you're very…"

"Swedish?" I said.

"Well, yeah."

"You know, I still don't know what that means."

"Oh, sure you do. It's just how you're all tall and pale and blond and chiseled and muscled and beautiful and… oh, my God, I love you."

"Nudge, will you shut up and go to sleep?" I said lovingly.

I lay flat on my back. She was still kissing me and nuzzling me when I drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Well, there was a bit more spring in Fang's step now. His kung fu was still pretty subdued, but there was new enthusiasm. We would get some worthy practice now.

Iggy is a miracle worker. I'm so glad I caught him before anyone else did. Then again, I was the one who had started dating first. I had dated Aaron… Aaron, who was probably dead, unless for some bizarre reason he was many miles from the school building when Jewel attacked. I wondered what Iggy would say if he knew how sad that made me.

Danny poked his head into the arena. "Hey, kids," he said. "There's a special guest here for you."

A tiny black dog trotted in. "Yo, yo, yo," he said. "Reporting for duty."

"Total!" Angel said happily.

"Total?" Iggy said. "That's your idea of a special guest? That's no special guest. That's not even stunt casting. Hey, if that's what we're scraping for guest stars this season, our ratings are going straight to hell. We are so cancelled."

"I don't like that, Iggy," Total said. "If the flock is short one member, you need me, don't you? Come on. I'm every bit as tough as Max."

"Sure," Iggy said. "If Max was made out of gelatin."

I giggled appreciatively.

But Total wasn't the only guest—Dr. Martinez and Ella filed in after.

"Good evening, everyone," Valencia said.

"Mom!" Iggy blurted. "I mean… sorry, I didn't… I wasn't thinking…"

"You can call me whatever you like, Iggy," Dr. Martinez said gently. "You know I love all of you."

"Right," Iggy muttered. "You know, last time I called somebody Mom she in return called me big bucks, so, I'm just a bit uneasy about that."

"Hi, Iggy!" Ella said cheerfully.

I instantly regretted what I had said to Iggy the previous night. Did I have a competitor now? I suppose I would have deserved it if I did.

"Well, I'm heading back to the honeymoon suite," Total said.

"Oh, you married Akila?" I asked. "I thought you wanted Max there for it."

"With Max gone, we wanted to get it done quickly," Total said apologetically. "Apocalypse and all that."

"Makes sense," Fang said.

"Anyway, she's in our room and I've got a bit of lipstick I need to put away, if ya know what I mean," Total said, scurrying off.

"Total, my good man," Fang said solemnly, "I wish to God that I had no clue what you mean."

Dr. Martinez scanned the room. "Where is Max?"

Abruptly, Fang rolled up into a ball, covered his face with his hands, and screamed.

"Fang?" Ella said, concerned.

"Don't make him explain it again," I said. "It kills him a little bit more every time. Suffice it to say that… Max left. She'll be back, but she left."

Ella gasped. "What about the baby?"

Fang muffled another scream.

"Max has the baby," I said. "She wants to keep her safe."

"Oh, poor Fang," Ella said. She hopped down into the arena and wrapped an arm around him. "Are you okay?"

He looked up at her. "You have the same eyes as Max does," he noted.

"Mom's eyes," Ella said, nodding.

"That's cool," Fang muttered. "I wish Airy had those eyes. Completely came out with mine. Most disappointing thing that's ever happened to me."

"You _really_ love Max, don't you?" Ella said. "That's so sweet. I can't imagine how you're feeling right now. I've known her for so little time, and I love her more than I love anyone else. This must be absolutely unbearable for you, knowing her and loving her your whole life, huh?"

"It's crazy," Fang said. "It's like… I had to quit her cold turkey. I went from seeing her constantly, every second of the day, to… never seeing her at all. I may _never_ see her again. You know, who's to say that I'm gonna survive until she comes back? I feel sick to my stomach. I'm falling into a depression, man. It's like nothing can make me feel better."

"Oh, come on, Fang, buddy," Iggy said. "This is a bit of an overreaction. You'd better be this torn up when _I_ abandon you."

Fang shot a glare at Iggy, which was followed promptly by the mandatory "I'm glaring, Iggy."

Dr. Martinez came down to Fang's other side and held him as well. "Fang, this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but… there are bigger things going on than you and Max."

"Ain't that the truth," Fang murmured. He raised his voice furiously. "What do you want _me_ to do?! I'm just Fang! All right? I'm not Max. I'm just the boyfriend. Half of a couple. The half that's useless and stupid, the half that the entire world really ought to entirely forget about entirely. I need to just start cutting grass right now. I could cut Jewel's grass! Maybe he'd let me do that. Cut his grass. I don't know. That'd be a good way to survive all of this. Don't you think? He'd probably think that would make me valuable. Doesn't have to be grass. Any household chore will suffice, really, if you think about it, that's all I'm driving at…"

"Fang," I said with wonder. "Fang, this is incredible. This has never happened before."

"What?"

"You're babbling."

He started laughing. "I guess I am."

A ninja star whirled by Fang's head, killing a monster horsefly that was sitting on the wall. Iggy laughed to himself.

"Wow," Ella said. "How _do_ you do that?"

"Well, it's not like I can hit a target," he admitted. "There needs to be something that makes noise. Nothing moves in _total_ silence, so I can hit pretty much any kind of creature."

"That is super-cool," Ella said.

"Thanks," Iggy said. "I like the appreciation. It's old news to the flock."

What if that had worked out, I wondered? If I had never approached Iggy; if he had gone for Ella. It's cute. Ella is nice. She would totally love Iggy. And she didn't have any baggage like I did…

"I still think it's super-cool, Iggy," I offered weakly. "Can I talk to you privately?"

He hopped up to me and we left the gym. "Iggy, I've been thinking… I mean, you've always wanted a girlfriend and you never really seemed to consider me. I'm wondering, now… do I deserve you?"

He thought. "Interesting. Well, I think that if you want me, then you absolutely deserve me. 'Cause you deserve exactly who you want."

"Yeah, it's just that… you weren't my first love. I dated Aaron. I'm just wondering if that ever bothers you."

"Fang and Max had relationships before," he said.

"Yeah, but those were just little flings. Fang wasn't in love with Lissa, Max never really trusted Sam, and even if they did, that couldn't have lasted, because there were secrets. Aaron… Aaron knew exactly who I was, and… well, I was very attached to him."

"Okay. You were in love with Aaron, granted. But I don't mind, okay? If you're feeling regret over this, you're totally forgiven. Here, in front of me now, do you love me?"

"Yes."

"And I love you. Need we say more?"

"I feel like it should be more complicated than that," I admitted.

"No," Iggy said. "Nothing has to be complicated." He paused. "You know what I dreamed of last night? Your face. Nothing but your face."

I clutched my heart. "Oh, Iggy, that's sweet."

"Yeah, and keep in mind that I haven't actually seen your face since we were little. But in my dream, I saw your face, clearer than I've seen anything before. The way it looks now… and the way it'll look far in the future. I didn't know if I was there with you, but I didn't particularly care, because I could see you, and you were happy."

I considered that, then hauled myself up to give Iggy a kiss. He's so friggin' tall. You practically need to be able to fly to kiss him.

"You know what I think, Iggy?" I said. "I think this was in our design somewhere. Maybe we were built for the purpose of being together."

He scoffed. "Oh, that's just silly. You can't build someone just to fall in love with someone else. Love isn't something that can be harnessed and controlled like that."

"You don't think it's possible?"

"No. You can't _build_ someone to be your soulmate. Because a soulmate happens in your… um… your soul."

"Nice."

"I know, I know. But I'm saying, we were _built_, yes, but that was only our genetics. Who we are has absolutely zip to do with that. You can build someone's genetics all you want, but you can't build a soul."

"Wow, Iggy. That's… that's deep," I said.

He laughed. "Well, I do a lot of thinking. When I'm not thinking about sex, bombs, and food I delve into some very deep existential stuff about the human soul."

"That's really cool," I said. "Chalk up another reason for me to love you."

**That discussion is kind of my prediction on the outcome of the role of the character Dylan in the upcoming sixth book. Just a guess, you know. I think it's the truth. You can't build a soul.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Keegan Beck picked uneasily at her food. She was one of Jewel's colonels, directly beneath him. She, along with Brigid and a quintet of Chinese mercenaries, ate in their own private room, where she was currently alone. As a colonel, Keegan never wore armor, making her easy to identify.

Jewel slipped into the room. "Oh, hey, Beck," he said.

Keegan saluted nervously. "Master Jewel. What's going on?"

Jewel sat down across from Keegan and stared deeply at her with the giant diamonds that somehow worked as eyes. "I'm trying to figure you out," he said. "Why do I trust you so much? Love you, even? I'm not used to that kind of weakness."

"Love isn't a weakness, Master," Keegan said. "Have you never loved before?"

"I don't think so," Jewel said. "Who do you love, Keegan? Somebody, for sure. I can tell by the way you carry yourself."

"Niles," Keegan said dreamily. "Niles Chore is my boyfriend. I love Niles. He went to school with me. I wear his ring." She showed Jewel the green plastic trinket. "It's pretty simple, huh? But it symbolizes eternal commitment."

"Eternal?" Jewel said. "Aren't you fourteen years old?"

"Yeah," Keegan said. "But you'd be surprised. Niles loves me very much."

"And where is young Mr. Niles Chore now?" Jewel asked.

"I brought him in as a lieutenant," Keegan said. "Sometimes we meet up on the hilltop." She took a bite of her meal.

Jewel nodded. "So… how does one obtain a relationship like you and Niles have? Mutual affection, how does it happen?"

"I… I really don't know," Keegan said honestly—more honestly than Jewel could ever have comprehended. "Sometimes, two things click together in just the right way."

"A lot of things click together for _you_, don't they, Keegan?" Jewel said. "Kind of strange, how so many things can go right for one human being. What is your secret?"

Keegan shifted. "I don't know, Jewel. Sometimes a person is lucky. Can… can I go see Niles now?"

"Absolutely," Jewel said.

As Keegan left, Jewel called out, "You know, I can spare Niles if you like."

Keegan turned. "Hmm?" she said.

"As a colonel, you were to survive the purge either way," Jewel said. "I have thirty thousand soldiers, and I figured I should just eliminate all of them from the contest to make it easier. But I can make an exception if you like. Would you like Niles to be one of the hundred?"

Keegan nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Master Jewel."

Outside, she met up with Niles.

"Why did you do that?" Niles said curiously. "Was that necessary? I thought you knew I would survive anyway."

"I didn't do anything," Keegan said. "Mercy must have been within him all along."

Niles stared at her stonily. "But if he hadn't found it himself, you would have brought it out. You would do anything to make sure I survive. Then why don't you take Jewel's potential for mercy and have him spare the entire human race?"

"I can't," Keegan whispered. "It's dangerous! If I alter reality, it could launch a million unforeseen things… and with things that messed up, even I can't repair them. You know this, Niles. I've explained it."

"Yeah," Niles said. "Yeah, you've explained it. But what about me? I was dead. Bringing me back to life—I interact with other lieutenants every day. Wouldn't that set up 'unforeseen things'?"

Keegan sniffled. "Niles, are you complaining? Would you rather have stayed dead? I kept you with me because I love you with all of my heart."

"You love Max, right?" Niles said.

"Max is my best friend," Keegan replied.

"If Jewel succeeds, Max will die," Niles said. "You and I will live, but Max won't. Jewel wouldn't allow it. Why would you let Max die and not me?"

Keegan blinked rapidly. "Jewel won't succeed," she said. "Max will win. It's her destiny."

"I know," Niles said. "But it was _my_ destiny to die along with everyone else at the Day and Night School, am I right?"

"Niles, don't pretend you understand the workings of space-time," Keegan said. "I see the entire universe, you know. And it's… it's awesome."

"It's 'awesome'? What, like a hot dog?"

"Like a hundred billion hot dogs," Keegan said solemnly.

Niles laughed. "Keegan, I love you. I'm grateful for all of the things you've done for me. I'm just saying, if you can _see_ the universe, you should make it a better place."

Keegan hugged Niles. "Well, the universe is only a good place if I can be with you."

He kissed her behind the ear. "Your personal universe, yes," he said. "But there are other people who have universes of their own. Just think about it, Keegan. Think of improving _everyone_'s universe, not just yours."

Keegan giggled, kissing Niles back. "You haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about," she muttered. "You're only a mortal. The mortal I love."

She wouldn't even admit it to herself: the mortal she loved knew exactly what he was talking about, and had touched upon the truth that Keegan had been denying for a very long time. She was too scared to admit that she had obligations to the world.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Jewel rose to the roof of his compound, flanked by Keegan and Brigid and with the other five colonels guarding them on all sides.

"So," Jewel said to the person who had been dropped in on a helicopter. "You're Edward Tag?"

"Yes," he said nervously.

"You're a programmer from Atlanta," Jewel said. "And you think you deserve to be one of the hundred who survive my purification?"

"I do," Tag said. "I may not be the most useful person, but I can provide the meager human race with the happiness it needs to maintain its morale. And you won't find anyone more loyal to Jewel than I."

"Yeah?" Jewel said. "Well, we're going to need a few simple tests to find out that you're not going to conspire against me. Count to ten in German."

"Eins, zwei, drei, fier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zein."

"Count backwards from seven in French."

"Sept, six, cinq, quatre, trois, deux, un."

"Count to 108 by nines in Japanese."

"Uh… what?"

Jewel instantly sliced Tag's throat. Keegan gasped.

"Um… may I ask why you did that?" Brigid said uneasily.

"Oh, well, I knew the moment I saw him that he wasn't pretty enough. I want my hundred to be pretty people. The whole 'counting' thing was just to add comic relief to what would otherwise have been an entirely dull execution."

The leader of the colonels, a middle-aged woman with a high ponytail, was unfazed—as she and her fellows, three men and one other woman, always seemed to be—but raised her hand to ask a question.

"Lao Hu," Jewel said, nodding to her.

"These 'pretty people' you recruit," Lao Hu began tentatively. "How can you be sure that the hundred do not overthrow you?"

"Easy," Jewel said. "There are some people who want nothing more than to stay alive. Those are the people I'm going to allow to live. You seven are especially into self-preservation." He scanned around at Brigid, Keegan, and the five Chinese warriors. "And that's who else I'm going to recruit. Those are my requirements; pretty, and self-serving."

"And how is a self-serving person a guarantee that they won't betray you?" Lao Hu said, frowning.

"Easy. Self-serving people want nothing more than to live. And if they turn against _me_, they won't exactly be alive anymore, will they?"

Two of Lao Hu's peers actually laughed aloud. Brigid was merely revolted, even though she knew that the description Jewel had given, more or less referring to complete cowards, fit her perfectly—perhaps she was revolted _because_ she knew it.

"Any other questions?" Jewel said.

"I've got one," a raspy voice said.

Jewel spun and instantly pressed both blades to the throat of the shrouded figure that had appeared in front of him.

"Hey there," Jewel said. "What are you supposed to be? Mysterious cloaked figure? I like it."

"I represent the Survivors," the figure said. His or her voice was clearly mechanical, though the person was obviously human—the voice was modified to avoid any possible recognition.

"Survivors, capital S?" Jewel said. "Well, I like the sound of that. Sounds like a gang of self-saving nut jobs. Here to join me?"

"No," the person whispered. "The Survivors wish to put you on trial for the death of Mr. Chu."

Jewel looked surprised, then withdrew his blades. It was a common method he used; the appearance of relaxation gave the person a false sense of security, when in fact Jewel could kill someone just as swiftly from a standstill as he could when tensed.

"The Survivors are Mr. Chu's organization?" Jewel said. "Well, I think your superiors ought to know that it was Max who killed him, not me."

"He was under your protection," the figure said. "The blame goes to you. And I have no superiors. I am the leader of the Survivors, the leader of those who will continue to live after the world destroys itself."

"Yeah?" Jewel said. "Well, that's dumb, coming to me yourself. Should have sent a thug. I'm telling you this so you can understand your error whilst you die."

Jewel's blades shot forward to the person's heart. The person remained standing, seeming unharmed.

"Okay, now I'm frightened," Jewel said. "Why didn't you die?"

"I'm not actually here," the person said. "I'm far away. I'm merely projecting an image to you."

"Okay, fancy-pants," Jewel said. "Well, I'll have you know that if you and I ever meet in person, you're going to get a very up-close look at my impersonation of a Benihana chef. I'm going to make you into sushi. Use every part, like a friggin' buffalo, all right?"

"Well, we shall see about that," the person said. The projection vanished.

"The world will destroy itself, eh?" Jewel scoffed. "I'd better get there first, then. Lao Hu, bring in more candidates. We need to get this done _quickly_."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The flock gathered in the conference room, along with Total, Dr. Martinez, Danny, Ray, Ram, and the Greene brothers—a pair of tough guys that Dr. Martinez had been using as personal bodyguards while working with the CSM. The elder brother, Balthasar, was tall and straight as a rapier with shoulder-length hair that was so pale that it was nearly the same color as his skin, and the younger, Mattie, was stockier with bristly blonde hair.

Angel had assured me that the Greenes were on the level—but in the meantime, neither of them would be playing the romantic lead in anything, and I'd be keeping my eye on them.

"Fang," Dr. Martinez said. "You're up. This is your crew now."

"Right," I murmured. "Um, Danny?"

Danny held up a pointer. "Okay, I feel that our primary concern is Jewel himself. He overestimates his forces."

Balthasar raised a hand. "I'm afraid I disagree with that, Dr. Brooks. I didn't get to where I am now by underestimating anybody—I think we should regard Jewel's soldiers with the same caution as their master."

Iggy tilted his head. "And where exactly _are_ you now, Balthasar?"

"Alive," Balthasar said simply.

"I think you're right," I said. "Everything is dangerous, all of the time. That mindset usually worked for Max."

I didn't even bother to fight the twitching and voice-cracking that occurred every time I mentioned Max. Or anybody else mentioned her. Or she crossed my mind.

I'm sorry, I know I'm the coolest dude ever and all that, but _you_ try dealing when your soulmate, the most rock-solid warrior in the world, goes into hiding because things are too dangerous for your baby. Personally, I think I'm taking it rather well.

"Anyway," I continued—everyone at the table had noticed my little stumble, "keep going, Danny. Tell us about Jewel."

"Jewel is insanely deadly," Danny said. "His second pair of arms can move at the speed of sound and cut through anything. Being made of diamonds, he's virtually indestructible. His mouth holds a number of weapons, including a flamethrower and a supply of incapacitating spider-silk." He shuddered. "The silk can smother a person in seconds. It's a dreadful way to die. And his ordinary pair of arms can deliver powerful punches that can break through nearly any material, and failing that can also be powered up with a charge that causes an explosion on impact."

"But how do we _beat_ him?" Iggy demanded, pounding the table.

"We just do," I said. "Let's get going." I hefted a pistol—a customized one that Gazzy had whipped up for me a few months ago. Its tiny ammunition actually created immense explosions.

"Just like that?" Nudge said. "We're just… going?"

"Yep," I said. "Ready?"

"Uh, no," Nudge said.

I looked around. That seemed to be a general consensus around the table.

"Come on, people," I said. "The sooner we get rid of Jewel, the sooner I get my purpose for existing back, okay?"

"Fang, if you don't do this carefully, Max won't have anyone to come back _to_," Dr. Martinez said quietly.

"Don't under-plan just for the girl, you know?" Balthasar added.

I pointed my gun at him. "You call Max 'the girl' again, I'll kill you. If for no reason but to protect you from her. Clear?"

"Fang, you need to relax," Ella said.

I glared at her, and in doing so, probably saved the lives of the entire human race. I saw her eyes. They were Max's eyes, if Max's eyes had never been hardened by a lifetime of running and fighting and pain. An innocent version of Max's eyes.

"Okay," I said, sitting down. "We plan."

"Don't over-plan either," Balthasar cautioned.

I smiled at him. "We'll find the balance," I said. "Danny, could we sneak in as lieutenants, like you had Iggy and Nudge do before?"

"Certainly," Danny said. "That would be the safest route, I think. About two thousand people in Jewel's compound are of that rank, and the only people above them are the colonels, and finally Jewel himself. I propose that all of you—myself and the twins can't go, obviously—infiltrate the compound as lieutenants. Get close to the colonels and steal their special-issue laser weapons. Shooting Jewel at full-power with those weapons should then weaken him enough that he could be destroyed with a large explosion."

"Coo-ool," Iggy said.

"Complication; Jewel is never alone. The beam weapon being fired will attract the attention of Jewel's other soldiers, and the required explosion will most certainly take out many others besides Jewel—possibly including the person who sets off the explosion."

"My brother and I will do it," Balthasar said. "We're the only people with both the skill and the expendability."

I looked to see what Mattie thought of that, and got nothing from his face. "Hey, Mattie, do you ever talk?" I asked.

"No, he doesn't," Balthasar said. "But he's got a killer jump shot."

Mattie laughed. So, he _could_ talk, he just chose not to.

"You sure you want to call yourselves 'expendable'?" I said.

"What choice do we have?" Balthasar said. "None of the other normal humans here have the experience, and the planet can't afford to lose any of the bird kids. Am I right?"

"Fine, but you two aren't going in alone," I said. "Iggy, Nudge, and I will go with you."

"Say WHAT?" Gazzy demanded.

"I'm sorry, Gaz, you're too short."

"I am _not_ too short," Gazzy grumbled. "I can fit into a uniform just like the rest of you."

"Yeah, Fang," Angel said. "We can pass for adults if we're in disguise."

"Okay," I said. "You're not too short, you're too _reckless_."

Angel fell back, annoyed.

"Hey, now," Gazzy said. "She deserves that, but I'm not reckless! I am very much… with reck."

"With what?" Nudge said blankly.

"I don't know!" Gazzy snapped. "Come on, I don't need to stay behind!"

Angel gave me one of her precious, adorable "your-suffering-will-never-end" looks. I ignored her the best I could.

"Danny, who are the 'colonels' you mentioned?" I said. "They're the only ones who have weapons that could harm Jewel?"

"Yes," Danny said. "There are seven colonels. The first that he recruited were a small mercenary band from China; Chen Huzi, Lo Lang, Liu Shey, He Gwan, and their leader, Cho Lao Hu. Together, they're known simply as 'the Five', and they are all deadly warriors."

"And we're, what, Muppets?" I said. "We can deal with 'warriors', Dan."

"Of course," Danny said, nodding. "And the other two colonels, of course, are Brigid Dwyer and Keegan Beck. I think it would be best if the weapons were obtained from those two."

"Okay," I said. "Well, we've got our plan."

Nudge saluted. "Just give us the directions, Fang."

"Me, Iggy, Nudge, Balthasar, and Mattie are going undercover. Angel, stay here. Everybody else… make sure Angel stays here."

"If only it were that easy," Angel said sweetly.

"Don't be the villain here, Angel," I said. "We're heading out in five! Let's go."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The five of us took the underground entrance into Jewel's compound, via the security passes that Gazzy, Angel, and I had stolen during our escape.

When Jewel had betrayed the ICBG, he had taken all of their weapons as well as anything that they could use to build more weapons. One of the most efficient weapons they had designed was the "Vampire", a beam weapon that could be put to many uses, and allegedly could cause harm to Jewel. Jewel had already gone around the world and collected every sample of the alloy used to make the weapon, and only his seven trusted colonels were permitted to wield them.

Shooting Jewel with a Vampire wouldn't be enough to destroy him, but a mass explosion certainly could—if he was unprepared. The Vampire weapon, therefore, would have to serve primarily as a distraction.

"Me and Iggy know the place best," Nudge said. "We'll lead."

She confidently led us, weaving along through some of Jewel's other lieutenants, whips, and grunts. The place was a maze, but Nudge never faltered. Soon, we were in a series of hallways that were only traversed by other lieutenants.

"This is too easy," Balthasar muttered.

"You gotta learn to trust us," I said. "These kids know what they're doing. Sometimes _I_ don't even know what they're doing. But it always turns out well."

A lone lieutenant turned to look at me. "Fang?" he said.

Instantly, all five of us had our guns aimed at the solitary soldier. "Relax!" he said hastily. "It's me, dude!"

I recognized the voice and lowered my weapon. "Niles?" I said. "What's going on, man?"

"Keegan snuck me in as a lieutenant so she could be with me," he said excitedly. "How did you escape the living cell? I've heard rumors about how you made Dr. Dwyer tell a story and it yawned… but that's impossible!"

"More impossible than my resistance to water pressure?" I said smugly. "The rumors are exactly right. Niles, we're here to take Jewel down. Can you get us closer to him?"

He frowned. "I'm just a lieutenant, but if I call Keegan down here, she can escort us."

"Great," I said.

Now there were six of us. We marched forward.

"Of course, Keegan could also destroy Jewel with her mind," Niles said, "but evidently that's not her line."

I caught the tone. Max had used it on Keegan a couple of times. Keegan had always seemed very emotionally effected by it. "Judgmental, pal?" I said.

"Kind of," he admitted. "I mean… Keegan is the greatest. Before I met her, I was this twisted, sick, perverted, thirteen-year-old horn-dog. I hurt a lot of girls. Ruined a lot of lives. Keegan saw something pure inside of me. She brought that piece of me out into the open… and then she fell in love with it. And what could I do but reciprocate? Keegan is a very good person, to the core. She's just very self-conscious and afraid. That's all."

Nudge sighed romantically. "Oh, that's a beautiful story, Niles."

"Where did Keegan get her powers?" Iggy grumbled. "Does anyone know that?"

"She attributes it to a hyper-enhanced creativity she has had since her childhood," Niles said. "But I think it's something more than that. We're from the same hometown; I used to hear rumors about a little girl who was kidnapped by werewolves, and Keegan says that her earliest memory is a dream about busting out of a cage using only her mind. I don't think it was a dream, and I think the rumor is connected to that."

"Werewolves?" Nudge said, frowning. "I don't think that's…"

"Not werewolves," I said, putting the pieces together. "Erasers."

Nudge's eyes popped open. "Oh! The School! So the same people who built us created Keegan?"

"They had a few experiments like that," I mused. "Enhancing little kid's minds… Keegan was already a genius, creative, imaginative, beyond any other human who had existed before. So when they enhanced her, they got more than they bargained for."

"The sons of bitches," Iggy muttered.

We had reached the end of the hall. Niles punched in a code.

"The code translates to 'N and K 4Ever'," Niles explained. "When it's transmitted, Keegan knows to view my intentions. The other colonels just dismiss it as an innocent love note."

The door opened promptly.

"Keegan gave us the okay," Niles muttered. "All right, now let's go."

We entered a great room. A balcony loomed high above, and a number of figures were staring down at us as we entered. Keegan, Brigid. Five Chinese people, one of whom I recognized as the middle-aged woman who had been present when the flock had met Jewel for the first time.

And on another balcony, even higher above, Jewel glared down at us with his enormous, sparkling eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Keep calm," Niles whispered. "We're just going to walk up to Keegan—lieutenants come in here occasionally to receive instruction from the colonels. Just don't make eye contact with Jewel."

We started up a spiral staircase. With my raptor hearing, I caught a whispered conversation.

"Hey, Keegmeister," one of the colonels whispered. "That Niles is a hot little number. When you're done, you mind if I take a crack at him?"

Keegan gaped at the man, stunned. "I'm sorry, Huzi, I don't think I'll ever be done with Niles."

"You sure?" Huzi pressed.

"Yeah. Sorry."

We were at the top of the stairs by then. I risked a glance up at Jewel.

"You don't usually bring so many people with you, Niles," he called. "What gives?"

Niles apparently hadn't thought of that. "Oh! Um… we…"

Help came in the form of a giant blue gecko lunging for Jewel from the rear. Jewel spun and cut a deep, bloody hole in the lizard's stomach.

"Big Guy!" he said, impressed. "What's going on?"

Jewel's creator heaved, breathing heavily. "I wanted to speak with you, Jewel," he said hoarsely.

"Speak?" Jewel said. "While your pretty little army marches in here? I don't think so."

"I know you think of yourself as a villain who breaks the mould," the Big Guy said, grinning wryly. "But you can _afford_ to monologue, wouldn't you say? You're in control… of everything. Please, Jewel, let me speak with you."

Jewel considered that, then laughed. "Well, that's true, isn't it? Okay, go ahead and talk, dude. Lao Hu! Make sure those lieutenants don't go anywhere. I'd still like to know what's up with them."

The five colonels formed a barrier around the six of us. Brigid and Keegan stood a distance away—though of equal rank as the Five, those two apparently didn't do any heavy lifting.

I tapped Iggy and Nudge's fingers, telling them to split targets amongst themselves; Iggy passed the message on to Balthasar and Mattie in a barely-perceptible whisper.

"So, what's shakin'?" Jewel asked. I couldn't see him anymore; they were directly above.

"I know you can't be defeated," the Big Guy said solemnly. "I thought I could convince you that what you're doing is wrong."

"Hey, I know that causing mass extinction is frowned upon in some circles," Jewel said. "But how is that different from what the humans are doing themselves? I'm doing the planet I love a service. With only one hundred humans on the planet, the damage to the world will be nearly imperceptible. And I'm not killing everything; just humans. Last time I checked, no other species is dirtying up every imaginable sphere of the world."

Nudge and I exchanged glances. One hundred humans on the planet? That did, indeed, make Marian Janssen and her Itex cohorts look like an evil flake of dandruff. I know I'm kind of reusing a Max joke, but she wasn't around to come up with new ones at the moment.

"A service to the planet, perhaps," the Big Guy said. "But what about the human race? It's no service to them."

"The human race?" Jewel repeated. "Fuck 'em. If I didn't feel like I need somebody to bow down to me, I'd just release the virus right now."

"Jewel… I don't approve," the Big Guy said. "I do not approve. Thirty years ago, that would have made you back down instantly."

"Thirty years ago I was a machine," Jewel replied. "Today, I am a person. Take your opinion to somebody who cares."

"Jewel, I built you," the Big Guy said. "I raised and nurtured you. Everything you are is because of me."

"And I'm grateful, Big Guy. Honestly, I swear I'm grateful. But I've moved on to bigger and better things than being your lap-bot. People change, life goes on. Gonna have to let me go, Big Guy."

"Jewel," the Big Guy said, evidently grasping at straws. "Don't you… respect me?"

"Respect? Not especially."

"Don't you love me?"

"I—"

Jewel only got the one syllable out before falling silent. I craned my neck, trying to see what was going on. The silence stretched.

Finally, Jewel said, "No. No, I don't." He said it in a cracked voice, weak, pathetic.

"Is that right?" the Big Guy said. "Well, I suppose that is my fault."

"Don't blame yourself," Jewel said. "You did the best you could."

I heard the sound of the Big Guy being pushed over. I didn't know if he was dead; if he was, Jewel had killed him flawlessly, soundlessly.

"Now!" I yelled, preparing to attack the guards surrounding me.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

We broke out of the circle instantly. That is, Iggy and Nudge and I did. Balthasar and Mattie needed some help. We _are_ better than most grown men at… most things.

"These are no ordinary lieutenants," Huzi muttered.

"Flank them!" Lao Hu yelled. "Lang and Shey, left. Gwan, middle. Huzi, with me."

Iggy engaged with Gwan, a very skinny guy with a shaved head. Huzi and Lao Hu barreled over me. This armor allowed no room for hand-to-hand combat—for the first time I could remember, a bunch of perfectly normal humans may have had the edge on us.

Nudge was trying to strip out of her armor—a mistake. She wouldn't be of any use at all in the fight for a couple of seconds. And in our life, a couple of seconds are worth everything.

I barely noticed Iggy fighting Gwan—they appeared to be an even match—until they stepped on a circular depression in the floor. It collapsed—and clearly it was no accident, because the resulting hole was a perfect circle. Both of them fell down.

The chubbiest and sideburniest of the Five, Lang, looked down into the hole. "Whoa, check it out," he said.

Shey followed his gaze. She was a very sexy woman with cropped hair. "What's that, a vat of acid?"

"Yup," Lang said.

"How long has that been there?" Shey said conversationally.

"It's new," Lang said smugly.

"Well… we're gonna need a new Gwan," Shey snickered.

"Yeah," Lang said. "Too bad we don't have a DNA sample, 'cause then we could make another one that looks just like him."

Lang and Shey burst into laughter. I've fought against Erasers, designed specifically to enjoy killing, who didn't bat an eye when one of their comrades was downed. I wasn't sure what was more grotesque—that, or these guys' jovial laughter at the painful death of their friend.

"Come on, Iggy," I whispered. "Be alive… be alive…"

We took the ability to fly for granted way, way too often. Iggy couldn't spread his wings when wearing his armor.

But miraculously, he rose out of the hole. His armor was gone, his wings were out, his body was coated in a thin layer of mustard-yellow acid that was eating away at his skin, but he was alive and kicking. He grabbed Lang and Shey by the ankles and tossed them off the balcony. Abruptly, he screamed.

"Iggy?" Nudge said, concerned.

"Get this stuff off me," he said in a raspy voice. "Get it off! It's eating me alive!"

There was a water cooler on the back end of the balcony. Iggy unerringly ran toward it, picked it up, and emptied it on his head, sighing in relief as the acid was washed away. He didn't have much skin left, but he was alive.

I flung off my own armor, knocking down the two remaining fighters.

"Balcony, you guys," I called.

Iggy and Nudge followed me as I prepared to leap up to the second balcony. I paused in my flight, looking down the hole into the vat of acid. Gwan was thrashing and screaming, but he'd be dead for certain unless he was pulled out of there fast.

Sure, why not?

I dove into the hole and lifted Gwan out of it. I dropped him on the balcony—I figured, sure, I'll save him, but let him get his own water. Already, Lao Hu and Huzi had begun tending to the acid.

I joined Iggy and Nudge on the upper level, my hands coated with a light sprinkling of the acid.

"Don't move," Jewel said. He was holding up a small canister with a plastic lid.

"This is the virus," he said. "This virus will wipe out every human being on Earth who hasn't been immunized. I was planning to collect one hundred people to immunize, but I can get by fine with only eight. Take one step, and I'll open the canister right now. And just for the record, you're human enough that it'll effect you."

I didn't move. I didn't need to. I had heard the exact spot that the Big Guy had fallen—he wasn't there anymore. Somehow, I got the feeling that was a good thing.

Jewel noticed me looking at the empty space and snuck a quick glance. "Big Guy?" he said blankly.

The Big Guy dropped from the ceiling, landing right in front of Jewel and grabbing him by the wrists. Jewel jabbed at the Big Guy with his extra arms, but the Big Guy didn't let go.

"Fang!" Brigid called.

I turned to her. She tossed me her Vampire gun.

I caught it. "Blowin' in the wind, huh Brigid?" I called.

She scowled. She knew that I knew that she was only helping me because it looked like I would win. As soon as Jewel got the advantage, she'd be his best buddy again.

The Big Guy and Jewel continued to grapple. "Destroy the virus!" the Big Guy called. "Shoot the—!"

The rest of the Big Guy's sentence was drowned out when Jewel shot a chunk of spider silk into his face. The Big Guy transferred one of Jewel's wrists from his hand to his foot—his gecko feet worked almost as well as his hands—and used his hand to rip the silk off. Most of it, anyway.

"Shoot at the canister, Fang!" he yelled again. "The beam will vaporize it! But you have to get the whole thing, otherwise the virus will get away!"

I uncertainly aimed the gun. "I… I don't think I can, Big Guy!" I called back.

"Don't worry about hitting me!" he said hurriedly. "But you only have one shot! Shoot!"

"I can't aim that well!" I protested.

"Iggy can," Nudge whispered.

I looked at Iggy. "Yeah, he can," I said. I passed him the gun. "Take the shot, bro."

"I'm blind, you idiots!" Iggy said shrilly.

"Nobody in the world can aim as well as you," Nudge said. "The canister is in Jewel's left hand. Shoot it."

"I can't hit a canister!" Iggy snapped.

"Take the shot, Iggy," Nudge whispered. "I love you, Iggy. I know you can do it. Take the shot."

"I… I can't…"

"Take the shot!" I snapped.

Iggy shot. The weapon fired a single beam. I winced, not sure if I wanted to see the results of the shot. I opened my eyes. The canister was gone, as was the hand that Jewel had been holding it in. There was a great, circular hole straight through the center of the Big Guy's chest. You could look straight through it and see Jewel's arm on the other side.

The Big Guy's corpse fell limply. Jewel retreated, staring at the fried stump of his hand. "So it's true," he murmured.

Nudge tapped Iggy on the shoulder. He was shaking violently from the stress and tension. "You did it, sweetheart," she whispered.

He pistol-whipped her, then me. "You guys ever make me do anything like that again, I'll shoot _you_!" he snarled.

"You got yourself a deal," I said.

Iggy laughed, his voice cracking.

"This isn't over, dirty-birds," Jewel called. He had crawled up the wall and was skittering along the ceiling. "I'll rebuild my hand, rebuild the virus. You ain't stopped nothin'."

"Oh, but I think I have," I said. "Iggy, give me the gun. You have any high explosives on you?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Iggy countered. He passed me the Vampire and a melon-sized bomb. "Give it three-quarters of a second after you push the button," he said.

"Gotcha," I said. I flew after Jewel. He could handle ceilings pretty well, but nothing beats flight, even if it is indoors. I shot the Vampire at him, blowing chunks off of his legs, arms, torso, anything I could reach.

Jewel spun around and pointed a single finger at me. He shot an invisible beam from the finger, and from there I registered nothing but agony. The pain overtook my entire body, but I ignored it. I kept flying.

"How are you doing that?" Jewel demanded.

"There's a finite amount of pain in the world," I said. "I've already had my share."

"Ooh, that's some deep shit," Jewel sneered. "You stop coming at me!"

"Not a chance," I retorted.

"You won't feel so much pain when your head is detached," he said frantically. "You shoot me one more time, I'll cut off your whole body. I mean it! Fingers, toes, ears, eyes, tongue. See how many more pretty babies you can give Max after I've sliced your dick into strips of bacon!"

That gave me pause. Not the dick part, the babies part. If I sacrificed my own life in the act of destroying Jewel, I wouldn't be able to give Max any more babies. We had never discussed that, but I wasn't going to take any chances. I retreated out of Jewel's reach.

"Thank you," Jewel said.

I pressed the button on Iggy's bomb and threw it. Three-quarters of a second, Iggy had said.

It was too much.

Before the bomb made contact, Jewel batted it away. It bounced off the wall and went to the lower balcony. It exploded right at the feet of Balthasar and Mattie. Two valuable allies were gone, but then again that had been their intention.

As the building went up in flames, Jewel came after me.

"Haul ass!" I yelled.

I took Iggy and Nudge by the hands as we flew straight up. Soon, the burning compound was just a speck below us.

"He'll be back," Iggy said. "It was never going to be this easy."

Suddenly, Keegan was there, flying with us.

"Hey, Keegan," I said coldly.

She winced. What can I say? I could use the tone too.

"I just wanted to tell you that you did a very good job today," she said. "This will be over, I promise. _Everything_ will be over. You'll be free."

I sighed. Sometimes I wondered if my reactions to her pretty words were my own, or still hers. "Thank you, Keegan," I said. "Good to know."

Keegan disappeared. Some distance later, we were interrupted by another flying human figure.

"What the hey?" I muttered. "Hey, I know you. You're Darth Sidious."

The cloaked figure hissed. Its voice was completely unrecognizable. "I felt I should warn you. Your efforts to stop Jewel mean nothing, for Jewel will be stopped by the Survivors."

"Survivors?" I said.

"I believe you knew one of our organization, Mr. Chu."

"Ah, yes," I said.

"So, the Survivors will stop Jewel, then _we_ stop the Survivors?" Nudge said, bobbing her head. "Sounds like a bargain to me!"

She laughed along with Iggy. I smiled and made to pat the figure on the shoulder—my hand passed straight through. It was an illusion. I didn't let that interfere with the flock's routine.

"Good deal," I said. "So, we'll see you then?"

"You will NOT stop the Survivors!" the figure snarled. "The Survivors will _win_. Even after the world has burned itself down, and you and your beau Max and your child have all perished, the Survivors will…"

"Survive?" Iggy supplied.

I didn't laugh. The notion of Airy dying had taken all the humor from the situation.

"Listen, pal," I said. "Mister or Miss Survivor, whatever. If we ever meet in the flesh, you better pray to the patron saint of out-of-shape a-holes that I won't kill you _too_ brutally. Peace out."

I twirled into a dive; the other two followed me.

"We're gonna get through this, right, Fang?" Nudge said nervously.

I didn't know the answer. So I didn't offer one.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

THREE YEARS LATER

Jewel stepped onto a polished chrome stage. "Oh, hello, one hundred people!" he said cheerfully.

There were, indeed, exactly one hundred people in the stands. They applauded unenthusiastically.

"Are you ready for the dawning of Earth's next era?" Jewel said. "In a few short months, you hundred people will be representative of the entire human race! Dig?"

There was scattered applause.

"Oh, come on!" Jewel said. "You've been chosen as part of the revolution! You should be happy about that! Let's try that again. Dig?"

The applause was more sincere this time. Still, none of the hundred were entirely comfortable with the notion that there would soon be no more humans.

"I hold in my hand a canister of the Spider Virus!" Jewel said triumphantly. "All of you have been immunized; the rest of the human race has not, nor will they ever be. In a matter of months, the Spider Virus will have spread to the entire globe."

Once again, there was scattered applause. Everyone in the room applauded, for fear they would be killed if they did not, but it seemed scattered because not one of them was at all into it.

"Shall I open it?" Jewel asked smugly.

Someone in the crowd yelled "WOO-HOO!"

"Yeah, that's the kind of attitude I like!" Jewel said. "Well, not today. Before we unleash the Spider Virus, we must undo all of mankind's mistakes. Factories, cars, basically anything that runs off of impure fuel. Once we've pounded all of those things into oblivion, hopefully taking a few humans along with it, _then_ we open the canister! Anyone who survived the first phase of the cleansing will wish to God that they hadn't. For the Spider Virus eats away at the insides, killing quickly, but very, very painfully. No human will remain—not even Maximum Ride, wherever she may be."

**To be continued in the third installment of the series, "One"**


End file.
